Australia and West Indies of the two Test matches starting in Adelaide from Wednesday Series The hosts will play as favourites, but the visitors insist they are ready to surprise the reigning world Test champions.
Australian The biggest challenge for the team is to decide on a replacement for veteran opener David Warner, who retired after the victory against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground earlier this month.
They have decided to bring Steve Smith up and great all-rounder Cameron Greene back to bat at number four, where he will make the Western Australian state side.
The rest of the team is largely unchanged from the one that defeated Pakistan 3-0 in the recently concluded series.
Smith said he tried to replace Warner in the top-order, which made it possible for the selectors to send Green at number four instead of asking him to open.
Smith had told reporters earlier this week that they (selectors) were definitely keen to include Cameron (Green) in the squad and feed their top six batsmen and it was not appropriate for them to do so. They come up and bat.
‘I’ve been playing for a long time and I’m an experienced player and I think it’s something I should have done.’
However, it is a completely different situation for the West Indies, with seven players in their 15-man squad making their debuts.
They will also miss former captain Jason Holder and fellow all-rounder Kyle Mears, who have decided to stay away from the tour to focus on the T20 format.
West Indies have not won a Test match in Australia since 1997 and suffered a defeat when they toured Australia last summer.
The Test-experienced squad includes captain Craig Braithwaite, vice-captain Alzari Joseph, Alec Athanazhe, Taginarayan Chandrapal, Joshua De Silva, Gadakesh Moti, Kirk McKenzie and Kemar Roach.
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Joseph said West Indies have learned from how Pakistan had chances to win two Tests against Australia but failed to do so.
Joseph said that they have come here to win two Test matches, we have not come here just to play.
He said that he looked at some things in Pakistan and he will try to implement some of them, but we all have different ways of working.
‘For us, it’s about being brave, being positive.’
Joseph admitted that the visiting side had been weak in the Test arena and had played just six matches since their last tour of Australia 12 months ago.
In contrast, Australia has played 17 Test matches.
“I think we were a little underprepared last time,” Joseph said.
‘We just need to be a little more resilient and patient. Basically it’s different from the Caribbean, a bit more bouncy.
He said, ‘I have been playing a lot of white-ball cricket so for me it is a return to the red ball and keeping it for a long time.’
#West #Indies #Pakistan #Australia
2024-08-18 01:25:42
